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Sometimes it can be difficult task to come up with a side dish or curry for chapathi / roti. You cannot serve the same onion-tomato gravy everyday! It has to be different, interesting and healthy too, and the biggest part - it should appeal to kids. Potato is everyone's favorite vegetable and I sneaked in carrot and beetroot to whip up this healthy curry.

This curry is full of balanced flavors - it's got mild sweetness from the carrots and beets, tanginess from the tomatoes and heat from the chillies and spices. I cooked this root vegetable curry in pressure cooker as it enhances the flavor of the curry. The lovely color of the curry is sure to attract even the fussy eaters. Serve this curry with chapathi / roti or poori.

Rasam is one of the most comfort food for South Indians. Typically served as a second course in South Indian meals, I prefer to have rasam as an accompaniment to molagootal, kootu or thogayal. Milagu jeera (pepper cumin) rasam is a quick and flavorful rasam which is made with freshly ground spices and does not have any cooked lentils.

This rasam is ideal to be served during winters or when you are having cold or cough. The combination of pepper and cumin helps in digestion, relieving cold and gives soothing feel to throat. My mom makes this rasam to serve along with molagootal or kootu. I served this spicy rasam with rice, garlic potato stir-fry and paruppu thogayal. Not only with rice, this rasam can be had as a soup too.

For Home Bakers Challenge this month, Priya picked up some sweet and savory scone recipes to bake. Scones are a kind of cake or quick bread made with flour, butter, cream or yogurt and dried fruits. Scones are often served for breakfast or evening tea along with butter, jam and cream. Mostly scones are lightly sweetened and glazed, but they can be made savoury too.

I chose the simple scones recipe and tried the cranberry orange variation. I halved the recipe and made mini scones. These scones are really easy to put together and does not take much time. The scones turned out so moist and delicious with the light hint of orange and the sweet dried cranberries. Enjoy the scones warm with a cup of tea!

Khichdi is an Indian dish made with rice and lentils. It's a mildly spiced dish and is served with pickle, papad, salad and yogurt. Khichdi is considered a wholesome and healthy food and is easy to digest. It is a nutritious meal for babies and toddlers. Also it does not take much time to prepare a khichdi.

It's been raining heavily and the weather is getting cooler. Dal khichdi is such a comfort food to have on cold rainy days. This dal khichdi is somewhat similar to the South Indian arisu paruppu sadam, except for the spices. I love to have this khichdi hot with pickle, kachumber salad and papad. Always serve the khichdi hot from the pot. Off to the recipe now!

Upma is one of the easiest and quickest dish that we can make for breakfast. You can make a variety of upma recipes with the simple aval / poha, so I always stock them in my pantry for a quick breakfast or even dinner. You can make a healthy vegetable poha upma, a plain and simple aval upma or a tangy upma with lemon or tamarind.

Puli aval is a quick and easy upma with tamarind tempered with lentils, chillies and peanuts. You don't need any side dish for this upma. Not only for breakfast, puli aval can be served as a evening snack too. If you are a working women or in a hurry to put up a healthy yet delicious breakfast, try this puli aval.

Fruit based smoothies are an easy way to increase the consumption of fruits in our diet, and in turn nourish the body with essential nutrients. Unlike fruit juices, smoothies contain more vitamins, minerals and fiber, as we are adding the entire fruit. Making your own smoothies are easy too- you just need a blender, fruits and some milk or yogurt.

Kiwi's are highly rich in antioxidants and a good source of vitamin C and dietary fiber. I have already shared a kiwi mango smoothie, and adapting from that I made a smoothie with kiwi, banana, handful of spinach leaves and used orange juice instead of apple juice. The smoothie was so delicious and perfect for the hot summer weather. Start your day with this nutritious and filling breakfast smoothie. Serve along with toast or sandwich to make a complete hearty breakfast.

Chammanthi is nothing but a Kerala style dry chutney made with coconut, chillies and other additions like shallots, ginger, tamarind etc. In olden times, it is grind in a ammikallu (stone grinder), which gives the best flavor. Chammanthi with a bowl of steaming rice is one of my comfort food any day. Also see my Kerala style thenga (coconut) chammanthi and pacha manga (raw mango) chammanthi recipes.

Today's chammanthi/chutney is my mom's special recipe and one I relish a lot just with plain rice. This is a no-onion no-garlic chutney recipe with very few easy ingredients. The star of this chutney is the curry leaves, which imparts a lovely flavor and aroma to the chammanthi. Enjoy with hot steaming rice or serve along with rasam or molagootal.